To be Beast Again
by Merry Muppet
Summary: An alternate ending to the original movie. What if nobody changed back? What if someone unexpected changed instead? Can Mrs. Potts still tell Chip that Belle and Beast will live happily ever after? [One Shot. K for suggestive humor.]


_Author's Note: This is my ideal ending for the movie. I think Beast rocks, but his Fabio clone isn't exactly my cup of tea. The new version is kind of based on Shrek. . ._

"Please. . . Please, don't leave me. I love you," Belle whispered. Tears fell from her eyes. Inside the tower, not too far away, the last petal fell. The three mostly loyal servants began to cry as well. Not only was their master gone, but he left just as his chance to redeem them ran out.

A light began to glow around the Beast. Belle gasped and sat up. The lights flashed around the beast and then stopped. Belle placed her small hand on the chest of the enormous Beast. His pulse had returned. "He's alive," she whispered.

Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Mrs. Potts hopped out to the balcony. They all stared in amazement at the Beast whose chest was heaving steadily quicker. Lumiere visually perked up and said, "The spell has to break this time! They both fell in love!"

"Yes," said Mrs. Potts, "But they were too late."

"Actually," Cogsworth said as-a-matter-of-factly, "She said 'I love you' _right _before the last petal fell."

Belle ignored the bickering servants and leaned forward to rest on top of the Beast again. She didn't care about any the enchantment breaking, she only cared that he was alive.

"Maybe the magic went into bringing him back to life," argued Mrs. Potts.

"Why would it do that?" demanded Cogsworth.

"Belle," the Beast growled quietly.

"Beast!" Belle cried in delight, wrapping her arms around as much of him as she could. "I'm so glad you're okay."

The Beast grunted and Belle got off of him. He sat up and yawned. "I don't understand what happened." He grabbed his forehead with his paw and sighed.

"Neither do we!" the servants chimed.

"It doesn't matter," Belle said happily. "We're together again. That's all that matters."

The Beast stared at his paw, then at Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Mrs. Potts. "Why are we still under the spell?"

The pot, clock, and candelabra exchanged looks and frowned.

"It doesn't matter," Belle repeated.

"Someone like you should be interested in details like this," Mrs. Potts pointed out. "If the master never died, wouldn't you wonder why nobody changed when we're supposed to?"

"Yes," Belle admitted. That did seem like something very interesting, straight out of a novel. 

"Aha!" Lumiere said abruptly. Everyone turned to look at him. "Perhaps to break the spell, the two must. . . show their love." He winked at the couple, successfully ignoring the sharp look that Mrs. Potts shot him. The Beast and Belle exchanged frightened looks of their own.

"Lumiere, it's far too early to think about that. What if my son heard you?" Mrs. Potts lectured.

"Heard what?" asked Chip, who had just hopped on to the balcony.

Lumiere chuckled. "Well, you see. . ."

"DON'T," threatened the tea pot.

Lumiere grinned nervously. "Maybe a kiss then?"

The other two servants seemed to agree with that and Chip hopped up and down with delight, though he had no idea what was going on. Belle smiled and looked into the Beast's bright blue eyes. The Beast looked back in to her own brown, his face holding the gentlest expression it had held in many years. They leaned into each other and kissed.

Cogsworth held his hand to his hand-nose and sighed. "Well, that didn't work. I knew it would be wrong all along," he said, glaring at Lumiere.

"You did not!" argued Lumiere.

"Wait," said the Beast. The two stopped arguing and looked at Belle, who was lighting up like Beast had before. Different parts of her body started to light up and replaced themselves with various animal features similar to the Beast's but rearranged a little. After the transformation, she sat in stunned silence.

Nobody else said anything; they were just as surprised as she was. After it registered what happened, the servants resumed their unhappy bickering. "I think you need to change your song, Mama," Chip said innocently.

"What. . . Happened?" Belle asked, thinking out loud more than anything. The Beast stroked her soft, furry face and shook his head.

"I don't know. But like you said earlier. . . It doesn't matter."

"You still love me. . . Looking like this?"

"Do you think I would love you for your appearance when you loved me for me?" The Beast asked. Belle smiled and hugged the Beast, now having no trouble at all.

The servants were hardly as pleased, however. "What about us? We have waited ten years to be human again!" Lumiere said, exasperated.

"I miss my bed," added Chip.

"I think I like you this way," said Belle, patting them all. "Besides, what would be the point of a castle that is only half enchanted?"

_Oh, yes. I ended this stupid fanfiction with a stupid little joke. Please don't be too hard on me, okay? I don't write fanfiction much, I mostly prefer original stuff. . ._


End file.
